A new system uses augmented reality to give automated, step-by-step guidance to untrained operators of medical devices. Developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis and Surgery System (CAMDASS) is a wearable AR system that provides wearers with instructional images needed when performing a medical procedure. A working prototype is used on the International Space Station to perform ultrasound examinations. The system includes a head-mounted display unit that provides 3D AR cues for using the medical device. The device uses infrared cameras to track users. In testing, the system has enabled untrained users to perform fairly complicated procedures. Additional testing in remote locations, including the Concordia Research Station in Antarctica, and in developing countries is planned. The ESA is also working on reducing the head-mounted display’s weight, as well as other hardware refinements. (GizMag)(ESA)

In its latest survey of global mobile data, Cisco Systems forecasts there will be more Internet-connected mobile devices than people on Earth by year’s end. Last year was the fourth in which the amount of mobile traffic doubled. By the end of 2011, mobile video traffic alone accounted for 52 percent of all mobile data traffic. By 2016, the networking hardware provider expects there will be 1.4 mobile devices per capita or more than 10 billion mobile devices in the world generating traffic of about 130 exabytes a year. In its Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast, Cisco counts a wide range of devices, including in-car entertainment systems, digital photo frames, and cameras. CNET columnist Don Reisinger notes that “Cisco’s forecasts have been quite accurate. In last year’s study, the company forecast mobile Internet traffic to grow 131 percent in 2011. Actual mobile Internet traffic growth in the year was 133 percent.” (Ars Technica)(CNET)(Cisco)(Cisco® Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2011 to 2016)
 

A US startup is offering a signal booster in a can that users can spray onto objects near their smartphones. Chamtech Enterprises debuted the product at Google’s recent Solve for X technology forum. It lets smartphone users frustrated with dropped calls and poor reception create their own antennas by spraying the product on walls, trees, and even clothing. Chamtech claims that, in testing, it could send a VHF signal 14 miles using only a spray-treated tree. Company executives say the product works underwater and claim it should increase cellular telephone efficiency by 10 percent. The firm has not disclosed the product’s price. (PhysOrg.com)(CNET)(Chamtech Enterprises)

US and Israeli researchers have created a new communications-encoding scheme that promises to guarantee fast data transmission regardless of signal strength or interference. The method, developed by MIT and Tel Aviv University scientists, uses one large codeword for each message to be sent. Different, smaller segments of the codeword are encoded using standard error-correction codes. Thus, if a portion of the transmission fails because of noise, the next portion is still sent. Once the recipient has enough of the coded symbols to decode the message, the sender is signaled to stop transmitting. The researchers, who have applied for a patent for their technology, will publish their full results in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory. (redOrbit)(MIT News Office)

A new study by Spanish researchers investigates the importance of emotions in software-engineering requirements. Led by scientists from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, the study focused on how emotions shape a software development project’s requirements. Because software is designed and developed by humans, the researchers say emotions do drive the process, including the various acceptance and negotiation activities that take place during the development process. “In the world of computer system development consultants, I have often met disappointed users whose unhappiness was produced by a deficient collection of requirements,” stated Ricardo Colomo, one of the study’s authors. The researchers used a social-psychology tool called an affect grid to overlay a project’s requirements. They found that developers must take user’s emotions into account when negotiating and establishing software-development requirements, even when there are different stakes or emotional expectations for users compared to those held by the development team. Researchers from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Universidad de Murcia also collaborated on the study, the results of which appeared in the Journal of Universal Computer Science. (EurekAlert)(Journal of Universal Computer Science)

Zen gardens typically feature an area of gravel or sand, the raking of which is said to clear the mind. These have been miniaturized for desktops, and now, an entrepreneur is adding robotics and software to the mix. The Zen Table, created by Simon Hallam, is a Japanese rock garden in a coffee table. It forms designs based on software using a layer of microscopic silicone beads in lieu of sand or gravel. Underneath these beads is a sculpting head attached to a robotic mechanism driven by electric motors that creates or sculpts patterns and images. The Zen Table has an SD card slot via which users can upload new designs. The table also has a 3G-wireless modem that enables the importation and sculpting of new designs. A USB connection also allows a user to accomplish these tasks from a computer. Hallam says the underlying technology is scalable and could be built into bars or desks in hotel lobbies or resorts. He is also designing a desktop Zen-garden system. (GizMag)(Kickstarter)

Melanoma skin cancer accounts for less than 5 percent of skin cancer cases but causes the most skin-cancer related deaths. Convenient, automated diagnosis of skin lesions and melanoma recognition can greatly improve early detection of melanomas.

"A Mobile Automated Skin Lesion Classification System," a paper presented by researchers from the University of Missouri at the 2011 IEEE 23rd International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence, describes a prototype of an image-based automated melanoma recognition system for Android smart phones. The system consists of three major components: image segmentation, feature calculation, and classification. It is designed to run on a mobile device with a camera, such as a smart phone or a tablet PC. A skin lesion image is converted to a monochrome image for outline contour detection. Color and shape features of the lesion are extracted and used as input to a kNN classifier. Initial experimental results show that the system is efficient and works well on properly lighted test images, achieving an average accuracy of 66.7 percent.

Papers from ICTAI 2011 are available to both IEEE Computer Society members and paid subscribers via the Computer Society Digital Library.
 

The IMEC nanoelectronics research center says it has created a fabrication facility that houses the world’s first 300-mm fab-compatible directed-self-assembly (DSA) process line under a single roof. IMEC says the DSA patterning technology—developed with the University of Wisconsin, AZ Electronic Materials, and Tokyo Electron Ltd.— might extend both 193-nm and EUV lithography. The facility will have the tools needed to study DSA in order to increase its pattern reliability as well as to study the of use DSA repair techniques with EUV lithography at a production scale. The full details will be announced in conjunction with the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference in San Jose, California. (PhysOrg.com)(IMEC)

A Spanish graphics researcher has developed a method for rendering realistic skin images in real time using consumer-level computer and graphics hardware. Universidad de Zaragoza doctoral candidate Jorge Jimenez used a technique called separable subsurface scattering developed via Microsoft’s DirectX 10 multimedia API. Although leading animation studios with high-end equipment have been able to use this compute-intensive technique for years, Jimenez executed his code in real time on ordinary computer hardware equipped with a GeForce GTX 580 graphics card. Some observers say the approach might work with next-generation gaming devices. “I think there is still a lot of work to do,” said Jimenez. “Probably the most important one will be rendering realistic facial hair. It will be my dream if my skin research helps to improve the rendering of humans in games. I truly believe that more realistic characters will inevitably lead to deeper storytelling and more emotionally driven games.” (GizMag)(Wired UK)(Jorge Jimenez Blog)

US Congress members have heard testimony that LightSquared’s hybrid satellite/wireless broadband technology would interfere with an upgrade to the nation’s GPS-based navigation system. US Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari told a House of Representatives Aviation Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing that LightSquared’s proposed network cannot be compatible with GPS and that the government should set signal-interference standards to prevent future conflicts over companies trying to establish such services. This concerns aviation officials because the government has already spent about $8 billion moving air-traffic control from a ground-based system to a satellite-based GPS system. The most recent government tests of LightSquared’s system found that the network would interfere with 75 percent of GPS devices. Porcari added “there appears to be no practical solutions or mitigations that would permit the LightSquared broadband service, as proposed, to operate in the next few months or years without significantly interfering with GPS.” Previous tests also identified interference problems, which LightSquared asserts are the result of existing GPS devices improperly using available frequencies. In October 2011, LightSquared notified the FCC it will take legal action if not cleared to operate. The company reported a $427 million net loss for the first nine months of 2011. (ArsTechnica)(PC World)(US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)(Computing Now – NewsFeed)